PEOPLE EXPRESS MAY ADD BROWARD

People Express has made the first moves toward adding Fort Lauderdale to its schedule of no-frills flights.

The airline, which currently flies out of the West Palm Beach and Miami airports, has agreed to lease space in the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood Airport from Northeastern International Airways, which is in Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization.

Asked if his airline planned to lease space from Northeastern in Fort Lauderdale, Brad Deflin of People Express said Friday, "That's a pretty good gist of what our intentions are."

Ron Gardner, director of information for the Fort Lauderdale airport, said an agreement between People Express and Northeastern was signed last week. Gardner said he didn't know how much space People Express would be leasing because he hadn't seen the terms of the agreement. However, he added the airport would approve the leasing arrangement.

The agreement would give People Express a greater presence in the South Florida market. Since September of last year, the Newark, N.J.-based airline has added three Florida cities -- Miami, Orlando and Fort Myers -- to its schedule. It previously had been flying to West Palm Beach, Melbourne, Jacksonville, St. Petersburg and Sarasota.

However, such a leasing agreement would not stop Fort Lauderdale-based Northeastern from resuming its flights, said Wally Knief, spokesman for Northeastern. "We are the lessor of our terminal. We're leasing to other airlines space we do not use," Knief said. "We intend to renew service."

Ed Stukane, People Express' spokesman in Newark, said, "Obviously, if a lease has been signed, we're interested in the market. But we're not prepared to talk about our plans just yet."

After Northeastern filed for Chapter 11 in January, airline President Stephen Quinto vowed to keep flying and did so until March 4. At that time it furloughed all but 68 of its employees after a judge allowed Guinness Peat Aviation, an Irish aircraft broker, to repossess the airline's fleet for nonpayment of bills.

At its peak, Northeastern flew 16 jets to 17 cities in nine states and employed a staff of 1,484.

People Express has been having its own financial problems. It posted a net loss of $8.96 million for the three months ended Dec. 31 -- its worst quarterly loss ever. However, the airline, which has spurred competition across the country with its cut-rate fares, earned a net profit of $1.6 million in 1984.